China jobs: push to raise incomes, social standing of indispensable skilled workers at ‘two sessions’ amid hi-tech drive
- Nearly 30 million factory roles are expected to go unfilled by 2025, challenging efforts to develop a quality workforce and strengthen China’s hi-tech manufacturing sector
- ‘Two sessions’ delegate urges for the social and political standing of skilled workers to be improved, with improvements made to housing and education
Faced with a pressing shortage of highly-skilled talent, China needs to bolster the income level and social standing of its skilled workers, delegates at the ongoing “two sessions” have proposed, amid efforts to move up the industrial value chain.
“High-skilled workers … play an indispensable role in driving the country’s technological innovation and realising the transformation of scientific and technological achievements,” said National People’s Congress (NPC) deputy Chen Dawei, according to the state-owned The Paper on Thursday.
“Currently, the long-standing issues of low income and benefits for high-skilled talent have undermined the societal recognition of skill-based positions to some extent, thus impeding the cultivation of skilled workers.”
Data indicates a consistent decrease in the percentage of workers within China’s employed population
“This has led to a high degree of job-hopping among skilled workers and a breakdown in the transmission of skills,” Chen said, who is a production manager for a chemical company in Anhui province.
“Data indicates a consistent decrease in the percentage of workers within China’s employed population, causing even greater concern about the proportion of high-skilled talent.”
China is suffering from an acute shortage of skilled technicians, with this group accounting for 26 per cent of the total workforce, according to official statistics.
It is challenging the aspiration of the world’s second-largest economy to develop a quality workforce and strengthen its hi-tech manufacturing sector.
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Chen urged improving the social and political standing of skilled workers by integrating the group into the expert teams of Communist Party committees within companies, as well as the operational and managerial decision-making processes.
China should also implement fixed subsidies for technicians based on their job titles and skills to encourage the development of highly-skilled talents among workers, while also issuing incentives such as annual salaries and stock options akin to senior management standards.
He further called for efforts to address challenges faced by skilled workers, such as housing, their hukou household registration document that controls access to public services based on the birthplace of the holder and children’s education.
The craftsmen are the cornerstone and backbone of our Chinese nation
NPC deputy Jia Liang, who is also a skilled technician, said the criteria for selecting recipients of honorary titles such as “model workers” and “national craftsment” should favour highly-skilled personnel.
“The craftsmen are the cornerstone and backbone of our Chinese nation,” he said. “It’s necessary to train up batches of craftsmen on the frontline.”
